Your Morning Dump… Where Rajon Rondo is on an historic run

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

But it might be wise to interject here that the Celtics point guard is on a rather historic run. Rondo has had double-figure assists in his last 11 games, a streak not seen since Deron Williams had a similar streak in February and March 2009 (Steve Nash did it in January and February 2007). Next up is Nash’s 14-game stretch in March and April 2005. (Note: The Elias Sports Bureau wouldn’t tell the Celts the NBA all-time mark, saying only that Rondo is “nowhere close to the record.”)

“I think I was doing too much; instead of making the simple pass, I am making the home run pass,’’ he said. “That’s just how I play. I’ll try to do a better job of it. If I do turn it over, I just don’t want it to lead to an easy break or fast-break points.’’

“I like rewards, I look at the positive [of taking chances],’’ Rondo said. “It’s like gambling, I don’t go into gambling thinking I am going to lose. I think I am going to succeed.’’

It's the gambling that drives Celtics fans mad, whether it be on defense, with risky passes or boneheaded plays (like that "let the ball roll" turnover vs Utah).

But at some point, we'll have to learn to take the good with the bad. It's that way with every great player. We accept KG's overpassing and Paul Pierce's settle-for-a-deep-jumper isolation play. We'll have to accept Rondo's gambling. Those stats are too good not to.

On Page 2, Doc is trusting Keyon Dooling.

"Keyon, he's just coming on," said Rivers.

"At the end of the day, everybody's banged up this time of year," Dooling said. "But I'm starting to earn Doc's trust a little more; starting to find my niche and role on this team. I want to continue to try and execute it every night."

how many interviews has danny and doc praised rondo for “having the heart of a champion/lion”? no doubt since rondo’s rookie year he’s come a long way, but he still can’t hit a shot/free throw to save his life. either way his cap friendly contract and stubborn ass attitude is untradable on my team.
more cow bells and more rondo pls

paul

Rondo has his own ideas about basketball. Providing a player is not a blockhead, and has the smarts and talents to back those ideas up, that’s the most precious gold there is. It’s fantastic to be able to step onto a basketball court able to do a lot. It’s a step beyond that to step onto a basketball court able to see a lot.
Folks complain about the gambling when it doesn’t work, which is understandable, but how about the many times it does work, many of which we don’t even see? Rondo deflects balls many times a game, not only disrupting the offense, but often leading to turnovers, only there is no statistic for that. And there’s more. There’s the intimidation affect he has, similar to the affect a great shotblocker has. A shotblocker affects every shot the other team takes, because opposing players always have to wonder where the Big Man is. Rondo has the same affect with his wander, gambling, reaching and stabbing offense. No matter where they are on the floor, and no matter where he is on the floor, opposing players have to worry about Rondo. Is he about to sneak up to grab the ball away from me, or deflect it, or snatch the rebound I just grabbed? There’s no statistic for that.
And as I’ve mentioned before, Rondo is very smart about using his teammates on defense as part of his tricks and schemes, eg. guiding his man to shot-blocking Bigs.
We can all agree that he needs to stay home on his man more. Thank goodness, lately he’s been usually doing that, outside of his horrendous defensive performance in the Philly game.

kg215

True his defense doesn’t pass the eye test because it looks like he gambles the passing lanes and gambles when he is playing man to man. However according to the stats Rondo is almost as good an individual defender as Bradley while being a much better team defender, atleast that was the case earlier in the season. And though it looks like Rondo’s man gets past him easier than he should, Rondo recovers or pressures from the back pretty well. So I would say it is more calculated gambling. Yes he could stand to be more disciplined, but the odds are still in our favor.

http://profile.typepad.com/trsjr91 BleedGreen34

lets see how many double digits assists game rondo has without 3 future hall of famers to pass too

RyanH

That’s a funny argument. People said if CP3 were in a similar setting he’d destroy Rondo’s numbers, yet he’s having career lows on what people called a title contender. People talk about Rondo playing with KG, pierce and Ray as if its 2003. These dudes are old. Good, but old. Pierce is the only one who can score without Rondo.
We all want to see the guady triple-doubles. Rondo sets strange standards by having occasionally sublime outings. I’ve learned to accept him for what he is, which is a great passing, rebounding point guard with insane speed and intelligence. Consider that there are lottery pick point-guards, (Jennings, Westbrook) who are oblivious to the concept of running plays and reading defenses, and you can gain more appreciation to Rajon’s approach. Would we all like more shooting consistency? Yup. Jason Kidd came around with his jumper at a similar point in his career, so it can be improved. Just realize the grass or other point guards in this league aren’t necessarily greener. Having league pass, I’ve noted many guards that just don’t think the game. Rondo for all his faults thinks it at a high level.

http://profile.typepad.com/jmeedu James Eisenman

These stats you cite mean nothing. He does let his man get by him all the time and he does not recover. The bigs recover for him. And, often times, their man scores when they have to cover for Rondo. Rondo’s defense is awful. He stays too far from his man, he is upright and unbalanced so even when he’s “near” his man, almost all of them leave him in the dust. He almost never catches up. That’s Bradley. He vainly tries to hook from behind as they shoot by him. He spends half his time trolling through the paint for steals. Use your eyes not some meaningless stats. The only reason he’s been slightly better lately, is that Avery has been guarding the tougher assignments, he’s been lucky because Chris Paul went 3 quarters not looking for his shot AFTER he left Rondo in the dust and the other points we’ve played lately have been lousy or having bad nights. The first 2/3 of the season, he got torched for 20+ by nearly every guy he guarded. Just watch a recorded game and follow him off the ball. But the fanboys here see it, deny what is in front of them, I post his lowlights and the exact minute on the clock it happened and they don’t respond. Oh, Paul, the Rondo lover and others will tell you that I’m the resident Rondo hater. I do hate his defense. But I really hate him getting praised for some hidden, genious motive for his BAD defense though.

http://profile.typepad.com/trsjr91 BleedGreen34

i wouldnt come close to saying the clippers even now are even close to the amount of talent that the celtics have and rondo’s defense is clouded becuase of celtics ability to help and i still beleieve the big 3 are still all playing at high levels